‘Apart from the Ordinary’ St. Barnabas caring, growing for more than a century

It’s important to remember that our senior years can be filled with great experiences and quality time spent with family and friends.

There’s no place that understands the importance of continual growth like St. Barnabas, which has been growing for more than a century and will keep growing to accommodate the needs of their many residents in the future.

Celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, St. Barnabas was founded in 1900 in Pittsburgh. Originally, the mission was to take care of boys and men who had medical issues and had no one else to care for them. The organization grew, and in 1914, it moved to a 200-acre space in the North Hills.

During the 1960s, St. Barnabas decided it was time to make a change and began caring for women, as well.

In 1980, St. Barnabas revolutionized life for people over 55 and built the first retirement community in western Pennsylvania. Originally, The Village, as it’s called, was one five-story building, but it quickly became so popular that two additional wings were added. It currently has 252 apartments.

Residents at The Village have an array of amenities, including an indoor mall, a salon, a full-service restaurant, a pub and a chapel. Residents can grab lunch at the pub or enjoy card games with their friends in the lounge.

The Village also offers a theater, country store, gift shop, library, billiards room and even a woodworking shop.

For those who love the outdoors, there’s a walking trail, bocce court, picnic pavilion, pond and even a putting green. There are garden plots for planting vegetables and flowers.

“They are extremely popular, especially for anyone who likes to garden,” said Jim Lauteri, marketing director. “It’s just the right size, not a lot of work, and you can enjoy the whole process of planting and picking fresh tomatoes.”

In addition to The Village,

St. Barnabas has 172 carriage homes located at The Woodlands in Valencia, with plans to expand. Amenities at The Woodlands include an indoor pool at the Crystal Conservatories, a lodge, fitness center, library, pavilion and fishing pond.

“St. Barnabas is a very special place.” Lauteri said. “It isn’t just

St. Barnabas’ history that is different — the experience of living at

St. Barnabas is unique, as well.

St. Barnabas offers the full continuum of care for residents so, as their need for assistance increases, we have the variety of services available that meets their needs.”

There are five living-assistance

facilities, spanning Allegheny,

Butler and Beaver counties.

There are some unexpected benefits to living at St. Barnabas. The

St. Barnabas Memory Care program, created by Dr. Joseph Maroon and the Memory Care team at St. Barnabas, is a revolutionary program for residents and patients who are living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

St. Barnabas is working with Dr. Maroon and MyndVR, a virtual reality company that developed technology to help lessen anxiety in patients living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“We’re seeing extremely positive results with the virtual reality program. It’s really amazing,” Lauteri said.

St. Barnabas is working closely with the Alzheimer’s Association and has played an important role in getting Congress to pass the BOLD Act, which is focused on improving the lives of people with Alzheimer’s, as well as their family members.

Currently, Memory Care is also partnering with the Pittsburgh Ballroom Dance group to engage some residents with ballroom dance in a 14-week program. The program will end with a recital. Lauteri said that they already see positive results.

“They can recall dancing and music from their past,” he said. “You see the residents humming or singing. Becoming involved with music, dance and art brings back happy memories that create a sense of peace and joy.

“Veterans are a very important part of the resident population, and St. Barnabas is very supportive of the military, veterans and first responders.”

Recently, St. Barnabas met with residents who are Veterans to find out what services were needed. The answer was resoundingly that there was a need for better access to information about existing veterans’ programs offered by the Veterans Administration and other community organizations that provide services to the veteran community.

St. Barnabas took this opportunity to create the Operation Heroes program that brought in representatives from different veterans’ organizations, including the VA, to connect with veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

The event attracted about 150 people from the area, and, due to the overwhelming success, the Operation Heroes program will be held quarterly at the Kean Theatre.

“It was a very informative event. You can see that people were really involved and interested; many stopped to thank us for pulling it together,” Lauteri said. “We were happy to open new doors for them and to introduce the veterans to organizations that can help answer their questions.”

Engaging the community comes in many forms for this healthcare system. St. Barnabas Charities engages in innovative methods to raise money for the Free Care Fund.

One example is Furniture at the Firehouse, where the public can purchase gently used furniture that was donated by many of the residents and the local community.

Other charitable entities that provide support to the Free Care Fund are The General Store, Rudolph Auto Repair and Tusca Fuel Center. Many events are also hosted throughout the year, from the Founder’s Day event to the Free Care 5K, the June and Fall Golf Outings, Ladies Day Out and Presents for Patients.

In the past several years,

St. Barnabas acquired two public golf courses, Conley Resort and Golf Club and Suncrest Golf and Grille. Conley Resort also has 56 hotel rooms, a restaurant and an indoor water park for the kids. Both golf courses are home to many golf leagues and charitable golf outings. Conley Resort is the perfect stay and play option for the serious golfer. Golf groups from Canada, New York, Ohio and many other states have been coming to Conley Resort for their golf vacations for more than 30 years.

Big things are also happening in Beaver County for St. Barnabas. In 2015, St. Barnabas acquired the Beaver Meadows living assistance residence in Brighton Township. In 2018, it acquired a 175-acre plot of land previously owned by Michael Baker Corp. and followed that with the purchase of the Tusca Plaza Shopping Center across the street from Beaver Meadows.

December 2019 was a big month for the residents of Brighton Township. That was the month that St. Barnabas opened the Tusca Plaza Shop ’n Save. For more than three years, the residents in this community had to drive more than 10 miles to the nearest grocery store. The entire store from floor to ceiling was remodeled.

The St. Barnabas campus continues to grow in Brighton Township. In January, the Windle Dental practice joined the St. Barnabas Dental group. Dr. Windle has been caring for patients in the Brighton Township area for more than 30 years and is continuing to accept new patients.

The future in Brighton Township is bright thanks to St. Barnabas.

For 120 years, St. Barnabas has grown and cared for thousands of people who have passed through the doors of their facilities. For decades, they have used the tagline “Apart from the Ordinary” to describe what makes St. Barnabas special, and it’s more relevant today than ever.

Sponsored by St. Barnabas.